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Styled after southern English brown ales, our Nut Brown Ale kit is a great all-around beer: it's easy to brew (its dark color and rich flavor make it forgiving of mistakes), it's mild enough for light beer drinkers, but characterful enough for more experienced brewers and beer lovers. The finished product exhibits a deep copper color, fruity/caramelly flavor and aroma with toasty, chocolaty notes; and it tastes great after just a few weeks.

The instructions were easy to follow and the end result was a tasty Nut Brown Ale. I plan to brew this batch again and add some brown sugar to the boil as recommended by other reviewers. All I kept saying after tasting was"My beer is good, my beer is actually good!" Unlike the batch in '91 that tasted like a mixture of feet and Flintstone vitamins.

My boil came in at 1.050 (I added 0.5 pound of brown sugar at flame out), and I used the Nottingham yeast and left the beer for three weeks in the primary at 68F. The gravity was 1.009 at the end. I bottled with corn sugar (4 oz) and things carved up in about a week at 70F. This was an easy brew, and a fast turn around. The product was excellent. It had a great aroma, and tasted really good after about 2 weeks in the bottle. I had lots of compliments from friends on this one, as the flavor is light enough that even fans of light beer can enjoy it. It would have been good to have a little more of a full mouthfeel, but I think my brown sugar probably thinned the taste a bit. Overall, it is a very good kit and makes a fast and delicious beer.

Perfect. Got tons of compliments. Everyone agreed this was my best so far. I recommend to wait at least 6 to 8 weeks after bottling before serving. It takes a while to mellow and for all the flavors to gel..

I have been brewing for 18 years and this is the kit I have brewed most frequently. I am a big fan of Rogue Hazelnut Brown Nectar. I always add hazelnut flavoring to this kit and try to keep it on tap at all times. Delicious!

This was my first attempt at homebrewing, and I'm pleased to say that it was a success... especially considering that I changed the recipe a little. What can I say, I think it's the mad scientist aspect of all this that attracted me to it in the first place. At bottling time, I mixed in 1.5 Tbsp of pure coconut extract with the water and priming sugar. The flavor is subtle but very good. If I do it again, I'll probably do 2 Tbsp instead. In any case, I highly recommend this beer with or without the coconut extract. Personally, I think I made a good choice for a first homebrew, too. The recipe wasn't too complicated, and I think brown ale might be more forgiving than other, more delicate kinds of beer.

A favorite of family friends, this is one I brew quite often and take to family reunions, tailgating or just to have on hand at home. One of the easiest kits to brew, I add Irish moss in the last 15 minutes of the boil to get nice clarity.

Started cracking these open only after 8 days of bottle carbonation. A light chestnut color with a thin cream-white head that lasts (needs more time in the bottle). By far the smoothest beer I've brewed; it's a simple yet complex taste... I'd say smells slightly sweet and roasty, and tastes like Ithaca Nut Brown with less body. An easy-to-brew beer without off flavors. Taste is definitely smooth all the way through. Classic English brown, sweet nuttiness, and no kick given the low ABV.Given the quick turnaround, I'd recommend brewing this with the provided yeast in the colder months (3 weeks primary around 62 degrees for me). I'm a big fan of Ithaca's Nut Brown Ale, so I added 4 ounces of Hazelnut Liqueur at bottling for an even nuttier taste. Compared to Ithaca's somewhat artificial nut-taste, this nut brown has a more natural and subdued nut-taste. An excellent session beer for a great price!

A painfully easy brew for noobies like myself, came out great. It was perfectly drinkable at 4 weeks but had a slightly fruity character, at six weeks it has a much maltier flavor, tastes awesome! Couldn't recommend any higher for someone to try out as their first beer. I will probably try out the "honey brown" or the "nukey brown" next time around.

The kit had everything I needed and the instructions are super easy to follow. Brew day yesterday, I started the ale yeast 36 hours prior, fermentor bubbling away today. OG target is 1.044. I added 2 cups of brown sugar during the boil and my actual OG came in at 1.054. Looking forward to trying the beer when ready. I will report back then.

The nut brown kit really has the ability to perform. The sky is really the limit with this one. If you do nothing but open the box and brew it the end result is awesome. The second time I brewed this kit I made it into a pumpkin ale. It was amazing. Awesome mouth feel and perfect hopping! If you decide to experiment with this one Safale us-05 dampens the dynamic of the brew just enough to give you an idea of what your changes did. Cheers.

I used a lot of Scottish Ale Yeast this winter, (my apartment stays cold all winter in Ithaca, NY). This kit was the first time I used Danstar Nottingham Ale yeast, which also tolerates cold temps.Firstly, it fermented smooth and quickly around 58-62 degrees ambient room temperature (it probably got warmer in the fermenter).... Before that, though, during the brew I bittered with 2 oz of leftover Cascade dry-hops from NB's West Coast Imperial IPA kit, added .5 oz US Willamette @ 30 min, and the other .5 oz @ 15 min along with Irish Moss, yeast nutrient and energizer. I only did this because I accidentally used the provided Fuggle hops in a randomly thrown-together Scottish Wee Heavy, and I'm too cheap to throw away dry hops (cause they have a lotta bittering potential).After 20 days in primary, I went from 1.046 OG to 1.014 FG... hitting 4.20% ABV. Wow, serendipitously brewed the perfect 4/20 beer. I pitched NB's Irish Red Ale on the extremely (attenuative/pasty/concrete on the bottom) Danstar Nottingham yeast cake.I bottled with 2 oz Amaretto & 4 oz Hazelnut extract Liquer on 4/10, and on 4/18 it's fully carbed, instantly ready, and the only beer I've brewed that I can use the line, "Yeah it's my favorite beer that I've brewed." Can't wait to hear what my friends think. Cheers, and happy brewing!

I added an extra 1/2 lb of chocolate malt to the grains, and added 3 whole vanilla beans to the secondary. The extra malt didn't add too much chocolate taste. A consistent winner with the wife and friends.

Been brewing for a few years now, and needed something cheap, quick, and simple for a party the wife and I were throwing (what can I say? Even homebrewers get lazy sometimes.)Two weeks in the primary and force carbed. Everyone loved it.

I liked this brown so much i already have a second batch in primary. A simple, quick brown ale that offers a lot of room to customize as you see fit. Good brown flavor but remains light enough for guests that don't generally like dark beer. A little malty right after carb period, it has mellowed out to a very drinkable brew with a few more weeks behind it.

This beer won't win any awards, but for the price you can't go wrong. I will take it any day of the week over a commercial beer.After reading a few of the reviews I added 1 pound of brown sugar with 10 minutes left in the boil. It took a little longer than advertised for the bottle conditioning (6 weeks), but am not faulting NB since I deviated from the recipe. It is slightly dry, but still has good taste. I look forward to drinking the rest.

Brewed 11/11/13 and still in Primary - Looks good. I took the advice of other reviews and added a cup of light brown sugar at 20 min left and 1 oz of Apollo hops with 15 min left. looking forward to a test bottle for Thanksgiving. SUPER Easy Kit.

Brewed this as my 3rd batch where I did a much better job controlling steeping temps. Just poured a pint from the keg and I finally have a beer I can be proud to serve to my friends! This spent 2 weeks in primary, 2 weeks in a keg at room temp then chilled and carbed. Really smooth brew with a nice roasted nut finish. Will be bringing a 2.5 gal keg of this to the Super Bowl party. My wife mentioned that this was my best brew yet and reminded her of Sam Adams Winter Lager.. I'll take that as a compliment! Good times!

This is a great kit. After tasting this brew a friend made I decided to add a little body and alcohol content. I added _ pound of light brown sugar at 60 minutes, 12oz of unsulphered molasses at 15 min, and _ pound of light brown sugar at 15 min. Fermenting started within an hour and within two hours at 72 degrees I placed the carboy in a swamp cooler and reduced the temp to 64 degrees to keep from having a blow off. I had bubbling in the air lock for 16 days. Although not needed I transferred to a secondary at day 17 so I could brew another batch. I took a SGR during transfer and another at day 21, both were the same so I bottled into 47 12oz bottles, and one 3 liter bottle. I transferred the 3-liter bottle into a tap a draft after 3 days and forced carbonated. After 24 hours in the tap a draft the taste is awesome, wonderful head retention, and an alcohol content of 5.8% makes this my best home brew yet. I will make this again! One of my favorites and although the taste is similar to New Castle Brown Ale it has much more body and a lot more of a kick.

Brewed this as per kit instructions using a 4th generation harvested 1945 Neo Brit. Primary 2 weeks, secondary 2 weeks, to keg. Clear mahogony brown body, tan head, sweet malty aroma. Not as complex in flavors as Caribou Slobber, but that wasn't expected. Everyone likes this especially people who are afraid of trying a dark beer. Light in body, but not in flavor.

This is a well balanced beer. I brewed this back in October to have it ready for the holidays. I started a new job and decided to bottle it and take a case to work and pass some around as a Christmas gift and it was a big hit with the commercial lite beer drinkers. hopefully I converted some of them to drink better beer. I added a 1/2 pound of brown sugar at boil that gave it a nice flavor. I'm ordering another one to make and put into a keg so my wife and I can enjoy.

This is an update to my 3/1 review. My batch turned out fantastic. Everyone I gave a bottle to had embarassingly positive things to say. My neighbor liked it so much, he's comissioned me to make an entire batch just for him. This stuff drinks so easy I could be through 2-3 before I knew it. It goes fast! For those of you having problems: follow the directions to the letter, watch your sanitation/cleanliness, and this is a can't-miss beer.

Couldn't be happier! I haven't brewed or drank much brown ale in years. This was a perfect re-introduction. Brewed on 11/25, racked to keg on 12/2, drinking on 12/5. Note that I tweeked this recipe a bit- to boost body I added .5lb of Carapils, and to boost alcohol .5lb of light brown sugar. Highly recommend both. Also, as always, made a starter, which is a good idea on any beer not just lagers and high alcohol beers. And like other extract kits, I did a late boil addition of the wort, with ~10 minutes left in the boil...not that a little scorching of wort would hurt this beer.End result is a beer that is smooth, with hints of chocolate and toasti-ness, and not too heavy but not too light. The single hop addition means a low-key and not assertive hop character. While this beer won't make hop-heads happy, if you like brown ales you should be more than happy with this recipe.

Dark and delicious. I highly reccommend this ale as my dad and i successfully brewed it as out first beer making kit and it tasted great. It carbonated very nicely as well after about 2 weeks of the priming sugar in the bottle.

This is my first batch of homebrew so I was unsure what to expect, but I was really curious so see how Id done. My brew was done just before thanksgiving and is all but gone. It was a smash hit with everyone. Great flavor and feel. I will brew this again and again.

BEST ANSWER:No. Just put your yeast in the frig. If dry yeast it will last quite a long time. Just keep everything else in the box in a cool dry fairly constant temperature place. I have bought several kits at a time to get a good deal & not made them until 6mos later with no problems. I usually don't wait that long but life happens. I think you can wait quite abit longer if stored properly.

BEST ANSWER:No. Just put your yeast in the frig. If dry yeast it will last quite a long time. Just keep everything else in the box in a cool dry fairly constant temperature place. I have bought several kits at a time to get a good deal & not made them until 6mos later with no problems. I usually don't wait that long but life happens. I think you can wait quite abit longer if stored properly.

I was reading in some of the comments about the nut brown ale about adding in brown sugar and some extracts! At what point in the brewing does this happen, and how much of each can you put in before you ruin the batch?

Thank you for choosing Northern Brewer! For the sugar, you can add that right at flame out or just before so that you can get it dissolved into the wort and sterilized. As far as extracts, depending on what kind of extract you are adding, they could very well be added at flame out as well. As for how much you can should add to the batch, I would probably keep it at a pound or under of brown sugar. I hope that this helps!

Thank you for choosing Northern Brewer! For the sugar, you can add that right at flame out or just before so that you can get it dissolved into the wort and sterilized. As far as extracts, depending on what kind of extract you are adding, they could very well be added at flame out as well. As for how much you can should add to the batch, I would probably keep it at a pound or under of brown sugar. I hope that this helps!

I've been brewing this kit for several years now, and ever since NB changed their gold malt syrup (to the current Maillard malt brand name,) it has a slightly different taste. It's still good, but I prefer the old flavor- anyone have any ideas for substitutes, or additive to help bring it back to what I'm remembering?

BEST ANSWER:That is an interesting question since the extract syrup is still the same producer. Its still made by Briess but packaged in our facility and under neath out brand name - even though that same procedure has been done by us for years as well.....so I'm not sure what would have changed. It could be related to your water source and variations in the water chemistry. Since it is an agricultural product it will vary year to year as well

but I have not noticed a different in the extract syrups this year. I hope this helps in any way!

BEST ANSWER:That is an interesting question since the extract syrup is still the same producer. Its still made by Briess but packaged in our facility and under neath out brand name - even though that same procedure has been done by us for years as well.....so I'm not sure what would have changed. It could be related to your water source and variations in the water chemistry. Since it is an agricultural product it will vary year to year as well

but I have not noticed a different in the extract syrups this year. I hope this helps in any way!